The invention relates to fastening tools having contact trips and particularly to mechanisms for easily adjusting the contact trips.
Fastening tools are used for driving nails or staples into workpieces. It is well known in the art to provide such tools with a contact trip extending downwardly from the tool for contacting the workpiece and a separate trigger activated by the user""s digits. Accordingly, the tool can be xe2x80x9cprogrammedxe2x80x9d to drive a nail only when the user has pushed the tool unto the workpiece and has activated the trigger.
At times, it is useful to adjust the length of the contact trip. Prior art solutions, such as the solution shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,110, include providing a contact trip having an upper contact trip, a lower contact trip, and a rotatable element therebetween. As the element is rotated, the lower contact trip moves relative to the upper contact trip, thus adjusting the contact trip length.
It is an object of the invention to provide a contact trip that is easier to adjust than prior art contact trips.
In accordance with the present invention, an improved fastening tool is disclosed. The fastening tool includes a housing, a magazine connected to the housing for storing a fastener, a driving mechanism disposed within the housing for driving the fastener into a workpiece, a trigger assembly pivotally attached to the housing for activating the driving mechanism, the trigger assembly comprising a main trigger, pivotally attached to the housing and a supplemental trigger pivotally attached to the main trigger; and a contact trip assembly comprising an upper contact trip contacting the supplemental trigger, a lower contact trip connected to the upper contact trip, wherein the upper and lower contact trips have teeth that mesh together for locking the upper and lower contact trips.